Lester M. Wolfson Poetry Prize and English Department Writing Awards
The IU South Bend English Department is pleased to announce that the Lester M. Wolfson Poetry Prize will now be a national contest for the best full-length poetry manuscript . The winner will receive a prize of $1000 plus publication of the manuscript by Wolfson Press. David Dodd Lee will serve as Series Editor and judge. This is a recent development and more information will be made available in fall of 2009.
Please note that this is a change from our annual student writing awards, though the tradition of holding a competition for student writing--and hosting a guest author who serves as judge--will continue. Here are the guidelines for the English Department Writing Awards: Rules and Procedures
The judge for the 2010 Student Writing Awards will be the poet Mary Szybist.
2009 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Award Winners
Judge: Susan Choi
Poetry
1st Place Winner Naoko Fujimoto - Shigeru
2nd Place Winner Jacob Jones - Home in a Coupon
Honorable Mention Jeff Tatay -Imperator
Fiction
1st Place Winner Eric Duenez - The Emerald Ash Borer
2nd Place Winner Glenn Lyvers - The day I became guilty
Honorable Mention Susan Bower - The Sunglasses
Non-Fiction
1st Place Winner Catherine Kelly - Black Like Me - My Biracial Journey Through Black and White America
2nd Place Winner Jenny Bucksbarg - Good Hair, Love, Color and the American Dream
Honorable Mention Jenna Gensic - My Life Against the Grain: Surviving the Politics of Prematurity and Home Health Care
2008 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Award Winners
Judge: Brock Clarke
Poetry
1st Place Winner Eric Duenez - Reconcilliation
2nd Place Winner Rosalinda Leyva - A Time to Watch
Honorable Mention Naoko Fujimoto - An Anthology
Fiction
1st Place Winner Charmien Anderson Keranen - Severance Pay
2nd Place Winner Eric Gingerich - Waste Land
Non Fiction
1st Place Winner Matt Miles - Everything Shakes
Drama
1st Place Winner Jessica Hanback - Little Bombs
2007 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Award Winners
Poetry
1st Place Winner Talia Reed - Shells of Men
2nd Place Winner Eric Oswald - Innocence
Honorable Mention Vince Bauters - Self-Improvement
Short Fiction
1st Place Winner Neil Kelly – It Happens All the Time
2nd Place Winner Naoko Fujimoto – White Things
Honorable Mention Joseph Borkowski – Playing with Fire
Non-Fiction
1st Place Winner Charmien Anderson Keranen – Train Language
2nd Place Winner Chris O’Brien – Wings of Thought
Honorable Mention Eric Gingerich – Creation of Reality through Language
Drama
1st Place Winner Naoko Fujimoto - Wanted
2nd Place Winner Amanda Alvarado – The Prenuptial
Honorable Mention Lindsey Abair – The Prom Date
2006 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Award Winners
Judge: Bonnie Jo Cambell
Poetry
1st Place Winner Susie Russell-Replogle – Ways of Looking
2nd Place Winner Chris O'Brien – Stardust
Honorable Mention:
John Thompson – Stomach Ache
Talia Reed – Walnut Road
Laurel Wiederman-Bieschke – Ode to Chai and – Budapest 's Best
Short Fiction
1st Place Winner Jesus Moya – A Season For Bears
2nd Place Winner Matt Skibbe – Nasty Habit
Honorable Mention:
Neil Kelly – The Best Mashed Potatoes and Gray I Ever Had
Anne Shillingsburg – Untitled
Chris O'Brien – Enough
Drama
1st Place Winner Colleen Card – The Clerk
2nd Place Winner Zorina E. Jerome – The Means, Act One
Winners of the 2005 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Awards
Judge: María Meléndez
Poetry
1st Place Winner Jedediah Walls - "i dream of Babylon"
2nd Place Winner Kathy Tapper - "Rwanda"
Short Fiction
1st Place Winner Rebecca Gerdes - "Sugar and Darling Honeypie"
2nd Place Winner Talia Reed - "The Whole World is Cold"
Non-Fiction
1st Place Winner Stacy Logan - "Lilacs in Roseland"
2nd Place Winner Karen Neubauer - "History Not Hype: Americans Must Push for Whole Story of 9/11"
Winners of the 2004 Lester M. Wolfson Literary Awards
Judge: Gerald Stern
Poetry
1st Place Winner Mary Moon, “Dissatisfation”
2nd Place Winner Karen Chmielewski, “broccoli sticks to lipstick”
Short Fiction
1st Place Winner Karen Neubauer, “Sissy's Story”
2nd Place Winner Eric Gingerich, “Cursed”
Eric A. Gingerich is 19 years old. He has been at IU South Bend for two years now and plans to graduate as an English major in another two years. He is considering a career as a creative writing instructor at the college level or as an editor or journalist. At any rate, he hopes to continue writing fiction and to publish his work.
Drama
1st Place Winner Lisa Swartzentruber, “911”
Lisa Swartzentruber is a drawing and painting major in the Ernestine Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend. She finds writing to be an uplifting extension of her desire and need to create and express herself. "911" was her first attempt at drama. She says, “The dialogue flowed from my mind quickly and with ease and it was a joy to work on. I am very pleased that the renowned poet, Gerald Stern, chose this piece for the first place award in this year's Wolfson Literary Awards contest! My thanks to him as well as to Professor Joseph Chaney for his guidance!”
Second Place : Mary Moon, “Stock Options”
Past Wolfson Award Winners
